Kenny Dalglish last night admitted Liverpool deserved to crash out of Europe as they were upset by unfancied Braga.

Dalglish conceded Liverpool did not play well enough over the two legs to progress and felt they lacked creativity.

"Overall in the two legs it was only a penalty kick in the first game which separated the sides, and that's about right," said the disappointed Reds boss. "There was not too much between the two sides.

"They were very well organised. We knew before the game that the responsibility was on us to break them down and maybe if Andy Carroll's header had gone in in the first half, it would have been a different outcome.

"We never put anything past the goalkeeper, which is more important than working him. You have to be very strong creatively to break down a well organised side or you need a bit of luck.

"I don't think we had much fortune over the two legs, but I guess everybody else would say that. Like every other team we could do with a bit more creativity."

Dalglish admits Carroll still needs time to settle in after the club's record £35million signing endured a frustrating night on his full debut.

"He has tremendous assets that we have to learn to get the best out of and we have assets that can help him that he has to learn to get the best out of too," he said.

"Overall we are pleased to see him back on the pitch. We weren't disappointed with his contribution in any way. Whatever was there was everything we knew was there.

"He was a a wee bit unfortunate not to score a goal. He has a header that just goes wide in the first half and in the second half had a header that hit Dirk Kuyt. Considering it's his first start he can be pleased how he played."

Dalglish refused to be too downhearted, even though Liverpool are set to miss out on Europe for the first time in 12 years.

"I don't think you can call working at Liverpool Football Club deflating," he said. "It will be disappointing if we're not in Europe. But then you only get there if you win games and it's up to us to win games. If we win enough and get enough points then we will be in Europe."